President Nikos Christodoulides on Friday expressed relief after farmers abandoned their plans to block the Rizoelia roundabout, which connects the Larnaca-Nicosia and Larnaca-Ayia Napa highways, in protest at the government’s handling of the ongoing outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

“First of all, I would like to welcome the decision,” he said while visiting a school in Nicosia, before adding that “of course, anyone can protest without hindering people’s daily lives”.

He went on to say that his government has “demonstrated from the very beginning… how we are managing this great challenge”, and that this was evident from announcements made on Thursday regarding compensation for farmers whose livestock are to be culled.

“This is a great challenge, which requires the cooperation of everyone to be addressed, and the sooner we all realise this, the more closely we cooperate, we will also deal with foot and mouth disease sooner,” he said.

He added that “the dialogue” between the government and farmers “is continuing”, and said that the government’s responsible economic policy allows it to absorb such crisis.

Asked if he currently has plans to meet the newly formed group, named the Voice of Livestock Breeders, which had initially called the protest to take place on Friday, he said that he is “in constant contact with all the organised groups of livestock farmers”.

“Yesterday’s announcements, for example, were on the basis of a dialogue which developed. I remind you that many meetings have been held while I have been president, and we are continuing this effort to deal with the crisis of foot and mouth disease,” he said.

The Voice of Livestock Breeders cancelled their planned protest following a meeting with high-ranking members of the police force and Justice Minister Costas Fitiris, who stressed afterwards that “no one will be allowed to occupy any section of the road”.

On Friday, group representative Stella Petrou told the Cyprus News Agency that Christodoulides had telephoned the group and asked them to allow him five days to examine their demands and schedule a meeting with them.

She said that pursuant to this telephone call, they had decided to cancel their planned protest as a sign of goodwill, and added that she now expects the government to announce a planned date for the meeting.

The Rizoelia roundabout effectively acts as the chokepoint for all road traffic between Larnaca airport and Nicosia and all road traffic to and from Ayia Napa and Paralimni, and had been the site of a somewhat dramatic farmers’ protest last month.

That protest had been organised to coincide with the first day of an informal European Council summit, which saw political leaders from Europe and the region descend on Cyprus and land at Larnaca airport.

Fitiris travelled to the roundabout in person in an attempt to diffuse matters, with one protester handing him a child, and said, “you take him and feed him then, I cannot put food on the table”.